View source for Alan Ameche

{{Short description|American football player (1933–1988)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Alan Ameche
| image       = Alan Ameche 1960.jpg
| image_size  =
| alt         = 
| caption     = Ameche {{circa}} 1960
| number      = 35
| position    = [[Fullback (gridiron football)|Fullback]]
| birth_date  = {{birth date|mf=yes|1933|6|1}}
| birth_place = [[Kenosha, Wisconsin]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1988|8|8|1933|6|1}}
| death_place = [[Houston|Houston, Texas]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 0
| weight_lb   = 218
| high_school = [[Mary D. Bradford High School|Bradford]] (Kenosha)
| college     = [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] (1951–1954)
| draftyear   = 1955
| draftround  = 1
| draftpick   = 3
| pastteams   =
* [[Baltimore Colts]] ({{NFL Year|1955|1960}})
| highlights  =
* 2× [[List of NFL champions (1920–1969)|NFL champion]] ([[1958 NFL Championship Game|1958]], [[1959 NFL Championship Game|1959]])
* [[UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year|NFL Rookie of the Year]] (1955)
* First-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1955 All-Pro Team|1955]])
* 3× Second-team All-Pro ([[1956 All-Pro Team|1956]], [[1958 All-Pro Team|1958]], [[1959 All-Pro Team|1959]])
* 4× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1956 Pro Bowl|1955]]–[[1959 Pro Bowl|1958]])
* [[List of National Football League annual rushing yards leaders|NFL rushing yards leader]] (1955)
* [[List of National Football League annual rushing touchdowns leaders|NFL rushing touchdowns leader]] (1955)
* [[NFL 1950s All-Decade Team]]
* [[Heisman Trophy]] (1954)
* [[UPI College Football Player of the Year|UPI Player of the Year]] (1954)
* [[List of unanimous All-Americans in college football|Unanimous All-American]] ([[1954 College Football All-America Team|1954]])
* First-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1953 College Football All-America Team|1953]])
* [[Chicago Tribune Silver Football]] (1954)
* 3× First-team [[List of All-Big Ten Conference football teams|All-Big Ten]] ([[1952 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1952]]–[[1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1954]])
* [[Wisconsin Badgers football#Retired numbers|Wisconsin Badgers No. 35]] retired
| statlabel1  = Rushing yards
| statvalue1  = 4,045
| statlabel2  = Rushing average
| statvalue2  = 4.2
| statlabel3  = Rushing [[touchdown]]s
| statvalue3  = 40
| statlabel4  = [[Reception (gridiron football)|Receptions]]
| statvalue4  = 101
| statlabel5  = Receiving yards
| statvalue5  = 733
| statlabel6  = Receiving touchdowns
| statvalue6  = 4
| pfr         = A/AmecAl00
| CollegeHOF  = 1805 
}}

'''Alan Ameche''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|m|iː|tʃ|i}}; June 1, 1933 – August 8, 1988), nicknamed "'''the Iron Horse'''", or simply "'''the Horse'''", was an American professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[Fullback (gridiron football)|fullback]] for six seasons with the [[Baltimore Colts]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL). He played [[college football]] for the [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin Badgers]] and won the [[Heisman Trophy]] during his senior season in 1954. He was elected to the [[Pro Bowl]] in each of his first four seasons in the league. He is often remembered for scoring the winning touchdown in overtime in the [[1958 NFL Championship Game]] against the [[1958 New York Giants season|New York Giants]], labeled "''The Greatest Game Ever Played''".<ref name=mscwiot>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nnxRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WxAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7348%2C4206836 |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |title=Colts win 23-17 in overtime |date=December 29, 1958 |page=4, part 2 |access-date=October 25, 2019 |archive-date=May 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501034402/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nnxRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WxAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7348,4206836 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=everplyd>{{cite news |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1959/01/05/668467/the-best-football-game-ever-played |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Maule |first=Tex |author-link=Tex Maule |title=The best football game ever played |date=January 5, 1959 |page=8}}</ref>

With colleague and former Colts teammate [[Gino Marchetti]], Ameche founded the [[Gino's Hamburgers]] chain.<ref name=aaatyp>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jBsiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3aYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6120%2C8951720 |newspaper=Reading Eagle |location=Pennsylvania |agency=UPI |last=Richman |first=Milton |title=Alan Ameche atypical of former pro players |date=November 30, 1982 |page=22 }}</ref> He also founded the Baltimore-based Ameche's Drive-in restaurants.

==Early life==
Ameche was born in [[Kenosha, Wisconsin]], as '''Lino Dante Amici''' to Italian immigrant parents who came to the United States in the late 1920s, although they returned for a year to [[Italy]] during his childhood. The family then returned to Kenosha, where he attended [[Mary D. Bradford High School|Bradford High School]]. Ameche was a cousin of actor brothers [[Don Ameche|Don]] and [[Jim Ameche]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gregory |first=Sean |date=December 29, 2008 |title=Legends of the NFL's Greatest Game Ever: Alan Ameche |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1868793_1868792_1868777,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=November 4, 2019}}</ref>

==College career==
Ameche earned unanimous [[1954 College Football All-America Team|All-America]] honors at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]], where he played [[linebacker]] as well as [[fullback (American football)|fullback]] in [[One-platoon system|single-platoon]] days. In four years as a [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Badger]], he gained 3,212 yards, then the NCAA record, scored 25 touchdowns, and averaged 4.8 yards per carry. He played in the program's first [[bowl game]], the [[1953 Rose Bowl]], as a sophomore, rushing for 133 yards on 28 carries.  Ameche won the [[Heisman Trophy]] in [[1954 Wisconsin Badgers football team|1954]], the first for the Badger program.<ref name=amchshof>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZlYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uPIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1120%2C1301091 |newspaper=Gettysburg Times |location=Pennsylvania |agency=Associated Press |title=Alan Ameche, who won for Colts in 1958, among 8 chosen for hall of fame |date=February 12, 1975 |page=15}}</ref><ref name=mjarecl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H2MaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BSsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3504%2C88220 |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |last=Berghaus |first=Bob |title=Ameche recalled as a great player and great person |date=August 9, 1988 |page=1C }}</ref><ref name=avfng>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IWMaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BSsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1725%2C2241993 |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |last=Wolf |first=Ron |title=Ameche valued friends, not glory |date=August 11, 1988 |page=1C}}</ref>

Ameche is one of six Wisconsin football players to have a number retired by the program (35) and enshrined on the [[Camp Randall Stadium]] façade as of 2008: fellow Heisman winner and current career rushing record holder [[Ron Dayne]] (33), [[Elroy Hirsch]] (40), [[Dave Schreiner]] (80), [[1944 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Allan Schafer]] (83), and [[Pat Richter]] (88) are the others.  Ameche was inducted into the [[Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame]] in 1967, the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1975,<ref name=amchshof/> and the [[Rose Bowl Hall of Fame]] in 2004.

==NFL career==
Ameche was the third overall selection of the [[1955 NFL draft]] and played fullback for the [[History of the Baltimore Colts|Baltimore Colts]] from [[1955 Baltimore Colts season|1955]] until [[1960 Baltimore Colts season|1960]]. Named [[NFL Rookie of the Year]] in {{nfly|1955}}, he was a four-time [[Pro Bowl]]er (1955–58), and the only rookie named to the [[Associated Press]] All-Pro team in 1955.<ref name=onrook>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UWQrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gtkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3638%2C319592|newspaper=Spencer Daily Reporter|location=Iowa|agency=Associated Press|title=Alan Ameche only rookie on pro team |date=January 6, 1956 |page=5}}</ref> Ameche averaged 4.2 yards per carry over his career, and held the record for most rushing yards in his first three NFL games (410) until [[Carnell "Cadillac" Williams]] broke the record by gaining 434 yards in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/recap?gameId=250925009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230064410/https://www.espn.com/nfl/recap?gameId=250925009|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 30, 2021|title = Buccaneers vs. Packers - Game Recap - September 25, 2005 - ESPN}}</ref>

Ameche may be best remembered for his role in the [[1958 NFL Championship Game]] at [[Yankee Stadium]], often cited as "The Greatest Game Ever Played." Ameche scored the winning touchdown for the Colts on a one-yard run with 6:45 left in overtime as the Colts beat the Giants, 23–17. It was his second touchdown of the day.  He also scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run in the second quarter.<ref name=mscwiot/><ref name=everplyd/> His overtime touchdown was the last in championship history until [[Super Bowl LI]] in February 2017, when [[James White (running back)|James White]] scored at 3:58 of overtime as the [[2016 New England Patriots season|New England Patriots]] beat the [[2016 Atlanta Falcons season|Atlanta Falcons]], 34–28.

Due to an [[Achilles tendon]] injury in December 1960,<ref name=mjfnaqat>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yTsaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MCcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2175%2C432044 |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |agency=Associated Press |title=Alan Ameche to quit Colts; injury cause |date=June 21, 1961 |page=1, final }}</ref><ref name=hrqusxyr>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IINRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vBAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4106%2C894906 |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |title='Horse' quits after 6 yrs. |date=June 22, 1961 |page=1, part 2 }}</ref><ref name=cfaret>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pY4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HZ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5940%2C4203676 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |agency=Associated Press |title=Colts fullback Ameche retires from gridiron |date=June 22, 1961 |page=29}}</ref> Ameche finished a relatively short six-season NFL career with 4,045 rushing yards, 101 receptions for 733 yards and 44 touchdowns. He is one of only four players named to the [[National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team]] ''not'' elected to the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]. The others are [[Joe Fortunato (linebacker)|Joe Fortunato]], [[Dick Barwegen]] and [[Bobby Walston]]. In 2015, the [[Professional Football Researchers Association]] named Ameche to the P.F.R.A. "Hall of Very Good" Class of 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.com/hall-of-very-good-2015.htm |title=Professional Researchers Association Hall of Very Good Class of 2015 |access-date=November 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622185257/http://www.profootballresearchers.com/hall-of-very-good-2015.htm |archive-date=June 22, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==NFL career statistics==
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#ffe6bd; width:3em;"|
| Won [[NFL Championship]]
|-
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league
|-
| '''Bold'''
| Career high
|}
{| class= "wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! colspan="2"| Games
! colspan="6"| Rushing
! colspan="5"| Receiving
! colspan="2"| Fumbles
|-
! GP !! GS !! Att !! Yds !! Avg !! Y/G !! Lng !! TD !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! Fum !! FR
|-
! [[1955 NFL season|1955]] || [[1955 Baltimore Colts season|BAL]]
| 12 || 12 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''213''' || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''961''' || 4.5 || '''80.1''' || '''79''' || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''9''' || '''27''' || 141 || 5.2 || 18 || 0 || '''3''' || '''1'''
|-
! [[1956 NFL season|1956]] || [[1956 Baltimore Colts season|BAL]]
| 12 || 12 || 178 || 858 || '''4.8''' || 71.5 || 43 || 8 || 26 || '''189''' || 7.3 || 22 || 0 || '''3''' || 0
|-
! [[1957 NFL season|1957]] || [[1957 Baltimore Colts season|BAL]]
| 12 || 12 || 144 || 493 || 3.4 || 41.1 || 49 || 5 || 15 || 137 || '''9.1''' || '''40''' || '''2''' || '''3''' || 0
|-
! [[1958 NFL season|1958]] || style="background:#ffe6bd;"|[[1958 Baltimore Colts season|BAL]]
| 12 || 12 || 171 || 791 || 4.6 || 65.9 || 28 || 8 || 13 || 81 || 6.2 || 18 || 1 || 1 || 0
|-
! [[1959 NFL season|1959]] || style="background:#ffe6bd;"|[[1959 Baltimore Colts season|BAL]]
| 12 || 11 || 178 || 679 || 3.8 || 56.6 || 26 || 7 || 13 || 129 || 9.9 || 30 || 1 || '''3''' || 0
|-
! [[1960 NFL season|1960]] || [[1960 Baltimore Colts season|BAL]]
| 10 || 7 || 80 || 263 || 3.3 || 26.3 || 16 || 3 || 7 || 56 || 8.0 || 19 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! colspan="2"|[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AmecAl00.htm Career] || 70 || 66 || 964 || 4,045 || 4.2 || 57.8 || 79 || 40 || 101 || 733 || 7.3 || 40 || 4 || 13 || 1
|}

==Business career==
Ameche's Drive-in was a [[fast-food restaurant]] chain based in [[Baltimore]], founded by Alan Ameche.<ref name="Klein 2008 p. 47">{{cite book | last=Klein | first=D. | title=The Game of Their Lives: The 1958 NFL Championship | publisher=Taylor Trade | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-58979-384-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icm4fgniPLUC&pg=PA47 | access-date=December 9, 2017 | page=47}}</ref><ref name="Patterson Smith Remsberg Gibbons 2013 p. 176">{{cite book | last1=Patterson | first1=T. | last2=Smith | first2=D. | last3=Remsberg | first3=E.H. | last4=Gibbons | first4=M. | last5=Berry | first5=R. | title=Football in Baltimore: History and Memorabilia from Colts to Ravens | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | series=Football in Baltimore | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-4214-1237-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qasJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT176 | access-date=December 9, 2017 | page=pt176}}</ref>  Ameche's had five locations, all located in Baltimore or its suburbs:
* Governor Ritchie Highway and 5th Avenue, [[Glen Burnie]]
* 5800 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore City
* Loch Raven Boulevard and Taylor Avenue
* 7700 Wise Avenue, [[Dundalk, Maryland|Dundalk]]
* York Road and Timonium Road, [[Timonium]]

The restaurants were known for "no charge" carry out service, [[Signature dish|signature]] "Powerhouse" hamburgers<ref>{{cite book | last1=Bell | first1=U. | last2=Borges | first2=R. | title=Present at the Creation: My Life in the NFL and the Rise of America's Game | publisher=University of Nebraska Press | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-4962-0459-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lU3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PP148 | access-date=December 9, 2017 | page=148}}</ref> ("A banquet on a bun"), akin to today's Big Mac or Whopper sandwiches, and "Cheerleader" sandwiches (hot ham and Swiss cheese with mustard) and their onion rings.<ref name="Patterson Smith Remsberg Gibbons 2013 p. 176"/> The Loch Raven and Taylor location was open during the Summer of 1960.{{who|date=January 2022}} There is a [[McDonald's]] on the location today. The restaurants were typical [[drive-in]]s, with car side order boxes. Orders were delivered by a carhop who attached a tray to the lowered window. The company trademark was a [[Big Boy (restaurant)|Big Boy]]-like football player (#35) running through the uprights carrying a hamburger.{{who|date=January 2022}} In addition, Ameche's secret sauce was sold in many local grocery stores. The company slogan was "Meetcha at Ameche's!"<ref name="Patterson Smith Remsberg Gibbons 2013 p. 176"/> Ameche's restaurants were informally known by many teenaged patrons as "UM-cheez."{{who|date=January 2022}}

== Death ==
Ameche had undergone [[Coronary artery bypass surgery|triple bypass surgery]] at age 46 in 1979.<ref name=aaatyp/> He died of a heart attack in 1988 at age 55 at [[Houston Methodist Hospital|Methodist Hospital]] in [[Houston]], [[Texas]], a few days after undergoing another heart bypass surgery, under the care of Dr. [[Michael E. DeBakey|Michael DeBakey]].<ref name=aad>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4yIiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=unQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4764%2C1446330 |newspaper=The Hour |location=Norwalk, Connecticut |agency=Associated Press |title=Alan Ameche dies |date=August 9, 1988 |page=38}}</ref><ref name=redag>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qbIxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vuQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6239%2C143959 |work=Reading Eagle |location=Pennsylvania |agency=news services |title=Alan Ameche dies of heart problems |date=August 9, 1988 |page=13}}</ref>  He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in [[West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania]].

== See also ==
{{Portal|Companies|Food|Biography}}
* [[Chicken George (restaurant chain)|Chicken George]] – a former fast food restaurant chain based in Baltimore, Maryland
* [[Gino's Hamburgers]] – A local Baltimore establishment co-founded by Alan Ameche with [[Gino Marchetti]].
* [[List of fast food restaurants#Fast-food chains which have disappeared|List of fast food restaurants]]
* [[List of defunct fast-food restaurant chains]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=Alan Ameche: The Story of "The Horse" |first=Dan |last=Manoyan |location=Madison |publisher=Terrace Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-299-29010-8 }}
* {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/10/obituaries/alan-ameche-55-football-star-who-helped-colts-win-58-title.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Obituary for Alan Ameche |date=August 10, 1988 }}

==External links==
* {{College Football HoF|1805}}
* {{Heisman|alan-ameche}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=alan-ameche |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |fox= |si= |pfr=A/AmecAl00 |rotoworld= }}
* {{IMDb name|1850865}}
* {{Find a Grave|21025}}

{{Heisman Winners}}
{{UPI College Football Player of the Year}}
{{Chicago Tribune Silver Football navbox}}
{{1954 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1955 NFL Draft}}
{{Baltimore Colts 1955 draft navbox}}
{{ColtsFirstPick}}
{{NFL rushing yards leaders}}
{{NFL rushing touchdowns leaders}}
{{1958 Baltimore Colts}}
{{1959 Baltimore Colts}}
{{NFL1950s}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ameche, Alan}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:American football fullbacks]]
[[Category:Baltimore Colts players]]
[[Category:Wisconsin Badgers football players]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Heisman Trophy winners]]
[[Category:Western Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:Mary D. Bradford High School alumni]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Kenosha, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]